It has become a rite of autumn, like costumed children scampering from door to door on Halloween and homeowners muttering as they rake leaves: Giants star Barry Bonds has won another National League Most Valuable Player trophy.

Bonds extended his own record Tuesday by winning his sixth MVP award while becoming the first major-leaguer to win in three consecutive years, a staggering feat considering no other player -- not Joe DiMaggio, not Ted Williams, not even Bonds' godfather, Willie Mays -- won more than three in his career.

Bonds, at 39 the second-oldest player to win the award -- the late Willie Stargell was a few months older in 1979 -- said in a conference call that he was "blown away" by the thought of winning twice as many MVPs as any of the greats who preceded him.

The MVP is the highest personal honor in any sport, and Bonds' run of victories has elevated him to a lofty plateau. He matched the NBA's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the NHL's Gordie Howe for the second-most MVPs in any of the four major sports. Hockey's Wayne Gretzky is the all-time leader with nine, which Bonds doubts he will match.

"I'm not as great as Gretzky," he said. "Only two people were called great in this world: Muhammad Ali, who was 'The Greatest,' and Gretzky, who was 'The Great One.' Nobody else is great, except for Michael Jordan (the NBA great who won five)."

Barry Bonds watches his 1st inning solo homer go out of the park. St Louis catcher : Chris Widger.
SF Giants vs St Louis Cardinals, opening a two game series at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco.
Event on 7/7/03 in San Francisco.
MICHAEL MALONEY / The Chronicle less

Barry Bonds watches his 1st inning solo homer go out of the park. St Louis catcher : Chris Widger.
SF Giants vs St Louis Cardinals, opening a two game series at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco.
Event on 7/7/03 ... more

Photo: MICHAEL MALONEY

Photo: MICHAEL MALONEY

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Barry Bonds watches his 1st inning solo homer go out of the park. St Louis catcher : Chris Widger.
SF Giants vs St Louis Cardinals, opening a two game series at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco.
Event on 7/7/03 in San Francisco.
MICHAEL MALONEY / The Chronicle less

Barry Bonds watches his 1st inning solo homer go out of the park. St Louis catcher : Chris Widger.
SF Giants vs St Louis Cardinals, opening a two game series at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco.
Event on 7/7/03 ... more

A race that was supposed to be tight was not. Bonds was picked first by 28 of the 32 baseball writers -- two from each NL city -- who cast ballots,

and he trounced St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Albert Pujols, who captured three of the other first-place votes. Atlanta Braves left fielder Gary Sheffield got the other.

Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily-News and Don Ketchum of the Arizona Republic picked Bonds second, while Bill Zack of Morris Newspapers in Georgia and Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch voted Bonds third.

Bonds' acceptance speeches have become a rite of November, but he never has sounded as emotional as he did Tuesday.

"This award is more special to me than any award I've ever received because it's dedicated to my father," he said. "He has been my hitting coach my entire life, ever since I was a little kid. I miss him dearly. It's a real emotional time for me right now."

Bonds took every opportunity to praise his father, Bobby, who died of cancer Aug. 23. He related how Bobby Bonds watched every game on TV and phoned Barry's wife, Elizabeth, with batting tips. Bonds said he made sure to buy his family front-row tickets so Elizabeth could easily relay his father's advice.

"If I could go somewhere on top of a building and scream as loud as I could, and thank God for the ability he's given me, and thank my father for everything he ever taught me about hitting ... I pray in my heart that all the instruction he's given me in the past I'm going to continue to do in the future," Bonds said.

Giants owner Peter Magowan agreed that Bonds' performance in 2003, when he batted .341 with 45 homers, 90 RBIs, 148 walks and league-leading on-base and slugging percentages of .529 and .749, might have been his best in light of his father's illness and death. This followed back-to-back seasons in which Bonds set the single-season home run record and won a league batting title.

"To do what he did under the pressure he was under this summer, it's just hard to see how somebody could focus as well as he did," Magowan said. "What a job he did as a son, too, from what I could see, the love of his father and the support he tried to give his father while trying to give his support to his teammates and organization. It's difficult to do either job well."

Indeed, many writers who voted for Bonds were swayed by his performance in a single series against Atlanta in August. After returning from a bereavement leave to be with his father, who had but days to live, Bonds hit two game-ending homers in three nights.

"It's not a knock on Barry, it's just that I thought Albert had a better season," said Ketchum, the Arizona writer who voted for Pujols.

Strauss, the St. Louis reporter who ranked Bonds third behind Sheffield and Pujols, said Bonds' high on-base and slugging percentages were a product of his walks.

"I've voted for Barry five times before," Strauss said. "Fair or unfair, his 90 RBIs do not compare to Sheffield's or Pujols' numbers. It's hard for me,

in an age of so much offense in the game, to have a guy with 90 RBIs and vote him MVP of the league."

Pujols had 124 RBIs, Sheffield 132.

During his 30-minute news conference, Bonds challenged the Giants to acquire a marquee hitter this winter to help the team win a World Series and succeed him when he retires, saying, "We have been flirting around with this for too long. We have a beautiful stadium that's sold out on a regular basis. I think the fans deserve it, I think the city deserves it, and I'm tired of looking at a '54 World Series and not one in the 2000s. I want to be in a Giants uniform when they win a World Series."

Bonds even said he would restructure his contract to help the Giants bring someone like Sheffield or Montreal Expos free-agent slugger Vladimir Guerrero, to San Francisco, but it's unlikely to happen. Club officials publicly and privately say the money is not there, and they will not mortgage the future with highly deferred contracts.

Bonds also framed his controversial decision to withdraw from the Major League Baseball Players Association's product licensing program as a way to create his legacy the way he chooses. He will cut his own deals with companies that want to market his run toward Hank Aaron's all-time home-run record. (Aaron hit 755; Bonds has 658.) Bonds can earn substantially more money selling memorabilia this way, although he can't appear in a Giants uniform.

Bonds, who earned a $500,000 bonus from the Giants for winning the MVP, said he planned to donate part of his new licensing largesse to Bay Area charities.

As for the pursuit of Aaron and that elusive World Series ring, Bonds said he was enthusiastic about 2004 and was training harder than he had last year, partly because he will not have his father to help him.

"I just want to go out there year to year and see how my body holds up," he said. "I'm not playing it for the record. I'm doing the best I can with my body. I feel Hank Aaron's record is the greatest single record in all of sports. I think it's going to be a very difficult task to do. I'm prepared for the challenge. I just don't know if it's reachable."